Which Filter?

Question

I want to enhance the colours in the picture, what kind of filter would you recomend?

Sorry should have added... I have a digital SLR... the picture will have bright coloured graffiti in the background which I want to enhance the colours of.

Veito - I do check the answers :o)

Dr Sam

Polerizor ones - will that be good to bring out colour in say graffiti on a wall?

Answer 1

For a digital camera only a polarizer filter is needed. A polarizer will darken a blue sky and removes glare/reflections from glass, water, snow, sand and painted metal - but not polished metal.

Answer 2

If you were shooting transparency film I'd simply suggest a warm-up filter.

In some situations Polarizers will kill colours and remove 2 or more f-stops while you're shooting, especially at this time of year when the lighting is dull, so be cautious about the filter option as it could absolutely ruin your images - I suggest you prove their effectiveness for yourself by running some tests. The effectiveness or Polarizers is also very much related to their angle to the sunlight... so while they will work really well in bright summer sunlight, their use is equally questionable in other situations.

Instead I'd suggest you do a little post processing on your file to warm up the image (a touch, if necessary) and then boost the saturation a touch - it's all you need to bring colours to life.

-EDIT-
I wouldn't recommend red, green or blue filters unless you are specifically making B/W images and even then I'd probably shoot a straight digital file and do my adjustments in Photoshop instead... ;-)

Answer 3

In the camera - I agree that a Polarizer might be your best bet. Get one anyhow, as it is the most useful filter available to the digital photographer.

In Photoshop (etc) - I have sometimes been able to select just the area of the image that needs tweaking and increasing the saturation of the color I want to goose up a bit without changing the surrounding parts of the image. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2129721785/ The word "EMERGENCY" is actually a lit sign already, but I wanted to enhance the color a bit. Read the caption under the image.

See also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2130496010/
for the same building with the red letters bumped up, and see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2127647595/ where I used a different camera and did not change the color of the letters.

Answer 4

This is probably a waste of time answering this, as you will not even look at the answers,
but try a red, yellow, or blue filter.

Answer 5

i always use a polarizer for my digital but i also have red, blue and black filters for my black and white 35mm